Take It All Away
by Foxbracken - Phoenix Everren
Summary: All is normal at Camp Half-Blood, but one morning everyone but four demigods, Chiron, and Mr. D falls ill to an unknown disease. But when Annabeth falls ill, leaving Percy and Thalia alone, Chiron is forced to make the unknown join the quest against her will, but if they can't find the cure… Camp Half-Blood will fall.
1. Prologue

It was a peaceful, uneventful night at Camp Half-Blood; the usual dinner with the talking and laughter, the usual campfire with the joking and signing, and the usual nightly cabin things with turning off the lights and trying to sleep.

A normal night at Camp, so to say.

But morning was all but usual or normal.

As dawn stretched across the sky, following Apollo as he made his journey, it revealed a noiseless haven.

During the night, all campers but four demigods, Chiron, and Mr. D fell ill. All symptoms pointed to the sleeping sickness, but when Chiron treated some half-bloods, it did not improve. Not even nectar or ambrosia could help ease the ailing residents.

When the gods were questioned about this, none knew. Not even the wise Athena or the healer Apollo.

Chiron's fears had been answered.

Campers were ill, and there seemed to be no treatment, not even the Golden Fleece.

The wise centaur ordered three of the four demigods to go out on a quest in search for a cure: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, and Thalia Grace. Pleased with the healthy demigods, Chiron turned sides to start aiding the ailed half-bloods with Mr. D to give them some comfort.

But the next day brought more tragic news. Annabeth had caught the contagion and was now ill, leaving Chiron with no other choice but to force the fourth demigod to go on the quest with Thalia and Percy, regret doing so lodging in his gut. But there was no other choice. She had to go or Camp Half-Blood would fall.


	2. Chapter 1

Chiron veered left of the Big House, trotting to the woods behind it. The wise, old centaur missed the sounds of the usual Camp, with the shouts, laughter, clanging of weapons, splashing of water, thudding feet, whizzing arrows, and the sounds of various other things.

He sighed heavily, nearing a certain large oak. Chiron already regretted what he was going to do, but he had no other choice, Percy and Thalia had to have a third member to go on the quest.

Chiron stopped and gazed up at the tree house guiltily. Whistling out a tune, Chiron watched as a ladder soon rolled down, snapping against the ropes when stretched out all the way. Once it stilled, a slim dark figure started to climb down, her long black hair streaming down her back, long white sleeve shirt covering her pale arms as long jeans covered her pale legs, and dark combat boots clung to her feet.

Landing onto the ground, she twisted her body and gazed at Chiron with narrowed amber eyes.

The wise centaur flicked his head and turned quickly, trotting away, the girl following swiftly but keeping her distance.

* * *

The girl froze, stiffening as they neared the Big House. Chiron turned and assured, "It's all right; I just need you to meet two people. I will be there with Mr. D as well." Yet his soothing words didn't convince her enough, so Chiron was forced to have Percy, Thalia, and Mr. D come outside of the Big House.

All three demigods froze, staring at each other, Percy and Thalia with wide eyes, the girl with narrowed. "Who the Hades are you?!" Thalia demanded, sizing up the strange demigod. The skinny half-blood bristled, amber eyes blazing.

"Why do you care?! It doesn't matter!" She snarled, preparing herself as the daughter of Zeus's eyes sparked with anger.

Quickly, Percy got between the two and stuttered, "H-hey now! We have to get along, besides, were stuck with each other on the quest to save camp!"

As rapid as a flash of lightning, the pale demigod whipped to Chiron and Mr. D, the rage in her amber eyes directed at them, taking Thalia and Percy off guard. "You forcing me to go with them," she spat, eyes blazing. "I don't even know them!"

Startlingly, a glimmer of pity sparked in Mr. D's eyes as he and Chiron exchanged a hasty, regret filled glance. "It has to be done," Chiron finally sighed. "There's no other choice. Annabeth fell ill this morning, and you three are the only demigods that are healthy and free of this contagion. You three must find a cure."

The girl spat again and hissed, "Fine, since I have no option, I will pack." She turned and stormed away, leaving two flustered teenagers and two remorse filled immortals.

"What just happened?" Voiced both demigods, glancing at Chiron and Mr. D. "Who was she?"

Both sighed and Chiron rumbled, "That was Mallory Harris, daughter of Hades." The two startled demigods exchanged a bewildered stare. "She has been living here for five years now, in a tree house behind the Big House. She never has let herself been seen and can't trust anyone, I fear whatever trust she put in me and Mr. D is gone now."

Both half-bloods looked down, feeling shamefaced for their behavior, especially Thalia.

* * *

Mallory scrambled up into her tree house and hauled up the ladder in case if anyone tried to follow her, hate and betrayal burning through her veins. Sniffling, she grabbed a backpack and started to stuff her things into it, a glint off metal catching her eye. Turning, she saw a small silver razor glinting in the sunlight on her small table. She warily stepped over and picked it up, examining it between her thin fingers. Suddenly, Mallory rolled up her sleeve and twisted her arm, slicing the razor down the side of her wrist, gritting her teeth in pain, watching the blood bead and slide down the wound. Yanking open a drawer, she dumped the razor in and grabbed a Band-Aid, dabbing the blood off with a tissue and then covering it with the bandage, eyeing the other scars, and rolling down her sleeve quickly.

Mallory than slammed the drawer shut and finished packing, pushing the ladder out and climbing down once it calmed, reluctantly heading back to the group of four.


	3. Chapter 2

Hades glowered around as the rest of the gods assembled, Zeus sitting at his throne, eyes narrowed in thought. Once everyone settled down, Zeus rumbled, "As you all know, Camp Half-Blood has been struck with some kind of illness. Chiron had sent out Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, and Annabeth Chase. But Annabeth also fell ill, but Chiron knew another healthy demigod who could take her place." The god of death couldn't help but notice the proud gleams in Zeus's and Poseidon's eyes, and the worried shine in Athena's. "Mallory Harris is taking her place."

As murmurs filled the air, Hades bristled and muttered under his breath, "Great, the weak, pushover, pathetic rat is going to try and save camp. She'll ruin it."

Unknown to him, Artemis, Athena, and Apollo overheard his words, and they glared at him harshly. "Apollo," Artemis inquired tersely, glancing at her brother. "Do you know any cure for this disease?"

Apollo sighed heavily and shook his head. "No I do not, little sis."

"For the millionth time," Artemis growled. "I am older than you."

Before a fight could break out, Athena strode over from her throne, the meeting already broken up. "Apollo, Artemis," she greeted, the siblings greeting her in return. "This form of the sleeping sickness is new," she informed them, knowing they were curious about the disease. "And there seems to be no cure."

This brought groans from the siblings and Artemis huffed when she saw Hades storm off, probably cursing his daughter about how weak she was.

None of the gods could figure out why Hades claimed Mallory Harris, and then completely disowned her, loathing her very being. And none of the gods ever tried to figure it out, and forgot about it, but Artemis, Athena, and Hestia knew painfully. Hera also knew, but made no interest to help, and Apollo forgot from time-to-time.

But they couldn't really do anything, but Hestia tried to talk to Mallory when she was at camp tending to the fires. At last, not even that worked, for Mallory made sure she was not seen by anyone or anything. Why? No one really knew, not even the gods. They can't see everything.

**Sorry, really short chapter. :/**

**And yes, I'm still trying to figure out the cure for this strain of sleeping sickness. Does it exist? Nah, not for mortals anyway, just demigods, so be thankful if you are mortal. If you're a demigod, well, that's going to suck.**


	4. Chapter 3

When Mallory returned back in front of the Big House, she was relieved to see no one was there yet. So, she slunk off and sat down next to the porch on the ground, hiding in the shadows. Her amber orbed gaze flitted about, taking in everything nervously; even she was taken aback about the eerie silenced of the Camp.

Stiffening, she heard loud footsteps and then realized it was only Percy and Thalia. She grabbed her backpack and stood, swinging it onto her shoulders and stalking toward the other campers, greeting them with cold amber eyes.

Thalia immediately murmured a sincere apology, but Mallory blew it off and stalked off toward the pine tree with the dragon and Golden Fleece. "Are you coming?" She snapped over her shoulder, seeing the expression exchanged between the two demigods. They caught up quickly and Percy inquired:

"Since you're the daughter of Hades, could we shadow travel to our first destination?"

Thalia nodded along to the simple and harmless question, but Mallory abruptly halted, eyes hard and cold as flint when she turned to them. "Hades may have claimed me," she hissed. "But I am not his daughter." Ignoring the shocked faces, she turned and stalked on. "Come on! We might be lucky to catch a taxi and ride it to the city!"

"She's crazy," Percy muttered and Thalia couldn't help but nod in agreement as the two raced after her.

* * *

Mallory's timing was right, and she flagged down a taxi for them to take to the city. The taxi parked beside Central Park, and Mallory paid the driver, closing the door as he peeled off, causing her to stumble and curse in irritation. Thalia and Percy exchanged amused glances before walking over. She glared at them, and for once Thalia could've sworn she saw a flicker of fear and wariness flit through Mallory's amber gaze, but if it was there, it was gone.

She shrugged it off and inquired, "Alright, Mallory, do you have any idea what to do?"

Mallory shouldered her backpack, and the sleeve on her right arm slid up slightly, but Thalia caught the sight of a scar and a Band-Aid. _What's going on with her? _She wondered as Mallory answered, "We go to the library."

"But we can't read!" Percy protested, causing Thalia to chuckle and Mallory's eyes to flash. "We're dyslexic, remember?"

"You two maybe," she hissed, tensing. "But I'm not." She turned and sneered, "They have headphones there so you can go onto the computer and listen to what articles have to say. Remember to look up the symptoms."

Thalia glared at her and turned to Percy. "Can we leave her there?"

The son of Poseidon looked tempted, but shook his head no, so they trudged after their unfriendly companion.

* * *

The sun was setting over the busy city by the time Mallory, Percy, and Thalia got to a large library, walking inside. The daughter of Hades immediately veered toward the medical section as Thalia and Percy headed to the computers, seeing that there were indeed headphones. Thalia groaned but took a computer, getting onto the internet and plugging in the headphones.

* * *

Mallory pulled out a large medical book and grunted at its weight, carrying it over to an empty table. Pulling back the hardcover, she skimmed through the table of contents and flipped the pages, trying to find what contagion matched the symptoms.

After searching for some long minutes, Mallory was able to pinpoint that the contagion was much like the sleep sickness. _At least it got us somewhere, _she mused, standing and closing the book shut and scooping it into her arms and pushing the chair in with her hip. She walked over to the book shelve and slipped the thick book back into place, heading back to Percy and Thalia when she froze, tensing in fear, amber eyes landing on _him_.


	5. Chapter 4

Mallory, stared, heart pounding faster as blood roared in her ears. Suddenly, he turned his head in her direction, and she panicked. Darting around a few isles, she quickly strode toward Thalia and Percy as they were getting off the computers. "Let's get out of here, now," Mallory snapped, hurrying along.

Surprised, the two demigods shot up and pushed in the chairs, well, Thalia did anyways, and bounded after her, making sure they weren't running. Mallory scurried through the library, weaving around through crowds of people, in an obvious hurry, and giving no explanation to the baffled Percy and Thalia.

Once out of the library, the reluctant daughter of Hades booked it across the sidewalk, feet slapping the pavement from all three racing beings as Mallory took a flight of stairs two at a time down into the subway station. There, Percy blocked her path and Thalia demanded, "Why the Ha... why did you run off?"

Mallory bristled and spat suddenly, thankfully, no one turned to stare at the odd behavior, but Percy and Thalia both saw the same wild, trapped look in her eyes, like that of a cornered animal's. Among those glints, was fear as well, making the two half-bloods question once more if it was safe to bring her along, but her little show evaporated quickly as if it never happened, and her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Just... just someone I knew," Mallory muttered and pushed through the two, stalking on toward the other flight of stairs that lead back up into the heart of the city.

Not believing it for one second, Thalia bounded after her, keeping up quickly with the pale skinned girl as Percy soon made his way over to them. "What else are you hiding?" The daughter of Zeus demanded. "Come on, tell us!" Her voice softened considerably. "Look, I'm sorry for scaring you, but if we are going to save Camp, we have to trust each other."

Mallory's amber eyes flashed at the word trust, and she muttered dryly, "Trust? If we trusted everyone, we wouldn't live half a day." Puzzled by her ominous words, Percy exchanged a glance with Thalia as the three continued on, heading toward Central Park. "Come on, we can talk here and there's more room to hide if needed."

"Yeah," Percy mumbled. "And a great way to run into monsters." Thalia grunted in agreement, but they had no choice, besides, neither wanted to return to camp saying the lost Mallory in Central Park.

Soon, Mallory slowed and scrambled up a rock, sitting down, jaded from her run. Thalia and Percy soon joined her and the son of Poseidon brought up the question of who the man was that Mallory ran from, the question she knew would stir again and feared it. Sighing, she gazed away from the two, keeping her distance, still not trusting. "He... he was just someone I didn't get a good feeling about." That was the partial truth, but Thalia was no fool.

"Well, he wasn't a monster or her would have followed us," she pointed out, her soft tone rising in irritation. "You certainly know him from somewhere, and I'm tired of you keeping secrets from us! Gods, we won't hurt you if you make a mistake! We all do, more so Percy," this caused a cry of protest from the son of Poseidon, "But we don't start abusing each other because of it!"

Suddenly, Percy regretted bringing up the subject and Thalia regretted yelling at Mallory. Both demigods became wary and slightly frightened as Mallory's amber orbs darkened considerably, sparking with rage. "Don't you dare speak like that, like you know me!" She spat, rising to her feet. "And leave me alone!" She turned and stormed away, clutching her backpack straps as if it would disappear.

"Well," Thalia muttered dryly. "That went perfectly. Don't you agree, Percy?"

Percy sighed, watching Mallory's form. "She didn't have to be so rude..."

"Something's up, and I'm going to try and get Mallory to share. What do you say?"

Percy stayed silent for a few moments. "Alright, but if she tries to kill us, I'm blaming you."

"Thanks, Percy. Some friend you are."


End file.
